5 questions with Alabama running back Brian Robinson Jr.

Crimson Tide junior should be a much bigger part of the offense

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Even though the only players Nick Saban considers off-limits to reporters are freshmen, that doesn't mean that there's regular media access to Alabama football players unless they're team players. 

Part of that is to keep the message consistent, but he also considers it a reward. 

Consequently, look for Brian Robinson Jr. to be interviewed regularly from here on. 

Thursday afternoon, the junior running back made his first appearance in the Crimson Tide's media room. Here's some of what he said:

What makes a good pass protector in the backfield?

"Having a good base and knowing how to use your hands and get good position on the blocker, inside-out on him. Blitzers come down strong in the A and B gaps and if you're back on your heels you're not gonna be able to get good position on them, so you gotta meet them up in the line, use your hands, shoot your hands and have a good base in order to pick up a blitz."

What's different being a veteran on this team?

"Obviously it's more serious. I always took things serious, but it's just the next level now, knowing that my role's increasing and I'll be used for more things. Just focusing on everything I need to fix in order to be prepared."

Coach Saban said of anybody on the team who probably deserved more opportunity last year, you were that guy. I don’t know if you heard that, but if you did, what’s your reaction?

“Me and Coach, we communicated about that. He knows I’ve prepared, I’ve worked hard since I’ve got here and I just awaited the opportunity that whenever it had come that I was prepared for it. He knew that. We talked about it. Obviously, for depth purposes, it didn’t work out like that. But we know where we stand on that.”

How would you differentiate your style from Najee Harris and Trey Sanders?

“We’re all pretty much hard-nosed runners. Elusive, got good agility, smart, instinctive. I wouldn’t really say we’re different when it comes to comparisons. We’ve got a lot of similarities. We just have different ways we like to do things. Obviously, Najee will hurdle. I’m probably not going to hurdle anybody, but that’s just part of his game. Trey, he’s pretty good. He likes to use his feet. He’s great with agility. We all have the same abilities. It’s just the way we like to use them.”

Do you have a signature move?

“Probably when I lower the shoulder.”